Studies and observations both show that those elderly folk that are engaged in self management for their care tend to have fewer complications with depression. In a recently published research project, over the course of 18 months, about 300 randomly chosen patients were measured for depression and it was found that those that engaged in self management had fewer symptoms, and when they did have depression, the symptoms were less severe.
On a surface level, this is not a surprise at all. One of the issues that many senior citizens face is that they are losing their freedom and their lifestyles that they once knew are disappearing. Being able to care for themselves and make their own decisions when it comes to care is an easy way to help combat this. Self managed care is not an easy thing in some cases, and the participants that used it had to go through training first. Still, the benefits were real, and that is a plus, especially when you consider the fact that many of these seniors would have spent the rest of their lives battling severe depression if these steps hadn’t been taken.
Self managed care allows seniors to help form their own decisions when it comes to their care. There is a team of professionals behind the person, but the majority of the decisions are made by the person that will be receiving the care. The end goal was to help people attain the tools that they need to help realize their care and life goals with the resources available to them. It’s a large task, and even if the end goals were not completely achieved, positive mental health benefits were. And in the end, this is the most important thing that came from this study. A simple, medication free way of helping to alleviate depression was devised, and expanding this concept could benefit millions of people, and not just senior citizens.
Chronic depression is a huge problem in the elderly population. It is also often linked to poor physical health. While this won’t account for all cases of depression, increasing the independence of seniors through self managed care, in-home care, and similar concepts, some cases of depression could potentially be eliminated. These are all great ways to help seniors keep their personal freedom all while ensuring that the care that they need is within close reach. Combining this with access to a loving, professional caregiver will also be very helpful.
One thing that needs to be considered further in regards to this study is whether or not the program is cheaper than dealing with the repercussions of depression after the fact. There is some flawed thinking in this thought process, especially because the cost of improving health shouldn’t be a big factor if it is helping people to have better lives medically speaking, but this is the unfortunate reality of the world we live in. However, this will help to reveal other methods of senior care can help to establish the same effects.
Leave a Reply